My tone was firm, leaving no room for Aria to hesitate.

But she only thought I was making things difficult for her.

“Are you mentally ill? Why are you cursing your son to die for no reason?”

“I already said I punished Percival. Zayden won’t touch him again. Stop overreacting.”

After she spoke, she yanked the ring off my finger.

“Zayden’s been feeling down lately. This ring is a unique design I had custom-made. I’ll use it to cheer him up.”

I looked at her in shock.

Aria turned her head away, guilt flickering across her face.

“It’s only temporary. Once I light sky lanterns and get him the world’s most expensive diamond ring, I’ll give this back to you.”

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t like second-hand things. Don’t be so petty.”

She looked completely justified as if that wasn’t our wedding ring.

As if no vows of loyalty had ever been engraved on it.

Before I could speak, she clutched the ring and turned to leave.

As she passed the shelf where Percival’s urn was placed, she suddenly stopped.

“What’s this?”

Percival finally received his mother’s attention.

But it had only come after his death.

I choked up, my voice low as I answered slowly.

“It’s Percival’s…”

My words were cut short by a phone call. Aria glanced at the screen and quickly walked away.

I watched her figure grow smaller and finished the sentence to the empty room.

“…ashes.”

It was just as well she hadn’t heard.

Even better, I didn’t have to see her pretend to be shocked.

Or watch her put on a show of false grief in front of Percival’s urn.

Though perhaps that was only my own wishful thinking.

More likely, she would have said coldly, “Dead is dead.”

The next day, I packed my things and went to the company one last time.

As soon as I handed my resignation letter to HR, one of my subordinates stopped me.

“Brother Calix, are you leaving because President Aria gave the department manager position to Zayden?”

I looked at him, my expression stiff.

“You’re saying Zayden has already taken over the whole department?”

But Zayden had only ever been Aria’s assistant.

He had never managed any external projects.

How could he possibly lead an entire department?

My subordinate looked furious.

“You don’t know that scumbag? He strutted in today like he owned the place. Just seeing his face made me sick.”

No sooner had he finished than Zayden walked out of the office, his tone sharp as a blade.

“You’re fired. Pack your things and get out.”

My subordinate roared in anger.

“On what grounds?”

Zayden looked smug, his eyes glinting with disdain.

“On the grounds that I’m your superior. If I say go, you go.”

Then he paused, lips curling into a sneer. “Unless you kneel and apologize.”

My subordinate’s face went red with rage, and he lunged forward to strike him, but I reached out and stopped him.

Only then did Zayden pretend to notice me.

“Oh, so it’s Manager Jarrett, no, Mr. Jarrett.”

He thought for a moment, and then a sinister smile spread across his face.

“Since your former subordinate caused trouble, as his ex-supervisor, you should clean up his mess.”

He looked down at me, his tone dripping with disdain.

“Kneel and bow for him.”

At those words, discontented murmurs rippled through the crowd.

Seeing the commotion outside the office, Aria quickly stepped out.

The moment Zayden spotted her, his expression shifted in an instant.

Aria walked up to me, her voice sharp. “What’s going on? Are you bullying Zayden again?”

Before I could open my mouth, Zayden spoke up, his tone sickeningly gentle.

“Sister Aria, don’t blame Brother Calix. I stole his position, so he’s upset. That’s understandable.”

I stood there in silence, watching him put on his performance.

Aria’s eyes softened when she looked at Zayden, but when they turned to me, they brimmed with hatred.

“Apologize.”

I couldn’t help but look up and ask, “Why? Why should I apologize to him?”

Aria felt as if I had been testing her patience again and again.

“I assigned your job to him. You shouldn’t be bullying him.”

Some coworkers who knew the truth tried to speak up for me, but Aria silenced them with a single cold glance.

One of my subordinates stepped forward, his voice firm.

“President Aria, it was he who bullied Brother Calix. He even told Brother Calix to kneel. That’s why we—”

Zayden quickly cut in, his tone dripping with false humility.

“Sister Aria, I’d better leave. Everyone is standing up for Brother Calix. I don’t deserve this job.”

Seeing the aggrieved look on his face, Aria turned to me, her voice hard.

“Are you sure you won’t apologize?”

I lifted my head high and stayed silent.

Without another word, Aria ordered the security guards to press down on my shoulders and force me to kneel.

One of them kicked my knee, and I fell with a heavy thud, forced to kneel before Zayden.

Still unsatisfied, Aria ordered them to make me bow to him.

“I told you, I am your sky. Don’t test my limits.”

Her words silenced every coworker who had wanted to speak up for me.

In that suffocating office, only Zayden looked delighted as I knelt and bowed my head to the floor.

“Sister Aria, isn’t this too much? After all, Brother Calix is your lover. Even if he wounded my pride, you shouldn’t humiliate him like this.”

Aria looked at him with even more tenderness after hearing that.

“If he dares to hurt you again, I’ll make him pay a hundred times over. A thousand.”

She pulled something out of her bag and looked down at me.

“I want you to crawl through Zayden’s legs. Use your dignity to repay him.”

The office fell into a heavy, deathly silence.

I raised my head, my mind reeling in disbelief.

She truly wanted me to crawl between Zayden’s legs.

Zayden was trembling with excitement.

“Sister Aria, is this really okay? Won’t Brother Calix be angry?”

Aria stepped closer, her eyes glinting as she mockingly patted my face.

“You don’t want to lose this, do you?”

She waved the object slowly in front of me.

One of my subordinates finally couldn’t bear it any longer. He broke past the guards and reached out to pull me up.

I looked at Aria, my heart seething with hatred.

“That’s the only thing Percival left behind. How could you use it to threaten me?”

Aria’s expression turned impatient.

“No matter how much you treasure that, you shouldn’t have cursed Percival to die.”

“Enough. Stop wasting time. Crawl.”

I stared at her, loathing burning in my chest.

In the end, ignoring my subordinate’s desperate attempts to stop me, I slowly bent down and began crawling, step by step, toward Zayden.

Zayden watched me with a sneer, and Aria urged me to move faster.

Some coworkers looked on as if it were a show; others turned away, unable to bear it.

In that moment, I carved the hatred deeper into my heart than ever before.

Aria, I would make you pay.

Just as I took the first step, Aria caught the look in my eyes and stiffened.

A strange unease flickered across her face.

Then, she suddenly called it off.

Zayden seemed to sense it was enough and quietly pulled her away.

As they turned to leave, Aria carelessly tossed something onto the floor.

“You treasure this so much, here, I’m giving it back.”

I rushed over and picked up the little charm that held Percival’s baby hair.

“Percival…it’s Daddy’s fault. I didn’t protect you.”

My cries were so raw, so hoarse, that even the coworkers watching couldn’t bear to look any longer.

After my subordinate brought me home, I sent a message to Professor Achilles.

[No need to renew the patent for the project with Ellison Corporation.]

Professor Achilles replied quickly, reminding me, [The reporting date has been moved up. Pack tonight and get ready to depart.]

By the time I finished gathering all my things, Aria finally returned just before dawn.

Seeing that I wasn’t asleep yet, she seemed to recall what she had done that day and softened her tone.

“I went too far today, but you hurt Zayden too. Let’s call it even.”

When I still didn’t respond, she brought up Percival.

“I haven’t seen Percival in days. I really miss him.”

She said she wanted to go to the bedroom with me to see Percival.

I sneered and pointed to the urn on the shelf.

“Go ahead. Percival’s right there.”

Aria turned her head, catching sight of the box.

Her face twisted in rage as she knocked it over.

“You dare fool me with fake ashes? I already lowered myself to make peace, and you still don’t know what’s good for you?”

“Percival, too, he was always so disobedient. He must have joined you in lying to me. I haven’t seen him for so long, and he hasn’t even called to ask about me.”

The more she spoke, the angrier she grew. She kicked Percival’s ashes across the floor.

At that moment, looking at the furious woman before me, I felt nothing at all.

Percival, did you see it?

She wasn’t your mother. She never loved you.

So come with Daddy. Let’s leave together.

I clutched the charm pouch over my heart that held Percival’s baby hair, guarding it as if it were my last breath.

After she had vented all her anger, Aria pointed at me and ordered, “I won’t hold today against you. Tomorrow, you’ll sign the contract with the research institute. You know exactly what you’re supposed to do.”

Without another glance, she picked up her bag and left.

I gathered Percival’s ashes piece by piece and placed them gently back in the box.

Then I picked up my suitcase and walked away.

At seven in the morning, I met Professor Achilles and the other colleagues from the research institute.

An hour later, the plane took off.

In the conference room, as she waited for the research institute staff, Aria began to grow anxious.

When she realized I still hadn’t arrived, she started calling me frantically.

But all she heard was, “The number you dialed is currently unavailable.”

Zayden sat beside her, constantly soothing her while belittling me.

The longer she listened, the more restless she became, her fingers tapping the table as she dialed my number again and again.

When the conference room door finally opened, she thought I had come to my senses and rushed in to beg forgiveness.

But it was only the research institute director who stepped inside.

The moment he sat down, Aria quickly forced a polite smile.

“Apologies. Our General Manager, Calix Jarrett, hasn’t arrived yet due to some issues. Please wait a moment.”

Unexpectedly, the director didn’t seem displeased at all.

“Can’t blame him. He just lost his son. Anyone would be in pieces after that.”

He paused as if recalling something, then added, “But didn’t he already join the overseas project? He left on the eight o’clock flight this morning, didn’t he?”